Sunday night's USA vs. Canada hockey game scored huge numbers for the cable news network. An average of 8.22 million total viewers watched the game, just shy of MSNBC's record audience of 8.23 million on Election Night 2008.

The game also received the third-highest household rating in the network's history, scoring a 4.3, behind only the Democratic Presidential debate on February 26, 2008 (4.9 rating) and the analysis that followed (4.4 rating).

For comparison, last season's Game 7 of the Stanley Cup averaged 8.0 million total viewers for NBC, and was the most-watched NHL telecast in 36 years.